Masks everywhere...what about those who have a hearing impairment

[Greysparkles]

Just that really.
I have a hearing loss in 1 ear, and have to wear a mask at work. I never realised how much I rely on lip reading!!

It's difficult and mine is only a mild impairment. I really feel for those who will truly struggle if this comes into force in more environments

Jings - I've done reception work. It doesn't involve lip reading!

"For those saying they would rather get the virus, the masks/face coverings are more to stop you spreading it rather than stop you catching it."

Well, no, because you wear one in the hope that others will too.

I’m worried about being able to buy them as my local pharmacy didn’t have any yesterday .
I hope it doesn’t get to the “toilet roll” situation when everybody is buying them all up and then people are selling them on amazon for ridiculous amounts of money .
Surely this won’t be the case ??
Any thoughts ?

@avamiah if you’re able to buy online, I’d get some nice cloth ones from Etsy or a local person.

@Gwenhwyfar your particular role may not have relied on paying attention to people faces too much but others’ do. Different strokes...

Was discussing this with my son who is also profoundly deaf and uses bsl and lip reading- he will use his pen and paper or His mobile phone to write questions down- people usually are fine with writing answer down for him or understanding his needs with a thumbs up.Maybe adapt to his approach? He usually finds a way! As frustrating as it is and time consuming- not many people are deaf aware sadly although you get generation are much better at this

I have the same issues. I am a primary teacher and also partially deaf. I am not in the UK and our lockdown has been easing for the last month so I am in a different position. But when we returned to work, three weeks ago, I opted not to wear a mask.

@Smellbellina

You have to pay by card don’t you? So not like you need to use the correct amount? Can people google public transport fares? I don’t use public transport but presumed you could?

Is that a thing now, that buses aren't accepting cash? Here swiping your card would either get you full fare one way (£2.40) or if you swipe twice a daysaver (£4), it wouldn't get you the tickets to get on the local buses, it wouldn't get you the economy local ticket, it wouldn't get you a short hop. But i've not been on a bus for months so i don't know.

@Gwenhwyfar

Jings - I've done reception work. It doesn't involve lip reading!

So your reception work didn't involve talking to people and getting their responses? Because most reception work does, even if its just "who are you here to see?" so for lots of people with hearing loss, that would require lip reading

"for lots of people with hearing loss, that would require lip reading"

I was answering a poster who said she used lip reading even though she didn't have hearing loss, which is why I asked if she was as spy.

masks for public transport, in small shops,
when else?

anytime you have to be close to people, which for me now is never because I'm on lockdown, but that could change.
I sometimes wear one to the supermarket and that's not a small shop, but it's impossible to always stay 2m away from people there.

I've seen masks with plastic inserts. Perhaps those you work with would use those?

op i guess this is the future for the time being, world wide

i use the phone at work, i can't imagine speaking through a mask in that scenario?

I’m a big supporter of mask wearing but, since it’s acknowledged as only a ‘better than nothing’ solution, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to pull your mask aside if you’re interacting with someone who’s hearing impaired, just for the duration of your speaking? Obviously, keep back as well.

I have a hearing impairment in both ears and I also sort of "supplement" my hearing with lip reading.
I will just have to take the hit on this. I would rather have to get people to write things down than them pull their mask down.

However, I am still mostly hearing so I wouldn't presume to tell other d/Deaf people how to feel about it, as it will affect others more than it does me.

I've lost my hearing in one ear and I didn't realise
how much I lip read until recently. It's tiring having to focus so hard to understand.

But I was interested in the comment about "disabled people". Is loosing hearing in one ear considered a disability? I'm not asking this in a narky way, have always been interested to know.

Just going to be honest, this isn’t something I see as a priority. Wearing a mask is more important.

Perish the thought something could be more important than COVID-19!!!

My wife has hearing loss and has really struggled hearing what the person with a mask is saying. I'd say it's pretty important to be able to hear someone when they are giving you information or asking an important question.

Greysparkles wearing a mask is a problem for a lot of people. That's why most people were against teachers wearing face coverings for religious reasons. However it's a temporary arrangement as we can't think of any other way to get by.

It is going to be difficult and they should be stopped as soon as we safely can.

@Ellisandra

Also hearing impaired, I’m quite surprised you didn’t already know how much you lip read! I think a lot of people who aren’t hearing impaired are going to discover that though!

I didn't until the optician handed me my glasses back 'so you can hear me'....

I've seen masks with plastic inserts. Perhaps those you work with would use those?

These mist up in a heartbeat and are a mess if someone sneezes/coughs. They're not particularly good because lip-reading involves interpreting a lot more than the lips.

I think hearing people are sometimes not aware of how much of what we see can influence what we hear (aka McGurk effect):

I'm trying to think of ways in which it's socially acceptable to use a Google Live Transcribe or similar without:
being too near someone;
falling foul of 'recording sound without permission in a public place' - even if the transcription is live and not saved somewhere.

It would be helpful to know how other countries are managing this. Other countries have a culture of wearing face coverings/masks so it must be possible.

Exactly the same as ClemFandango. Hearing aids and masks and glasses = next to impossible. It's worse because I'm not in the UK and am using a second language a lot of the time. Fortunately for me, masks are not obligatory here...

I lipread a lot because of a mild hearing impairment which isn't enough to need hearing aids but is enough to have other sounds drown out voices, a boiling kettle, traffic, chair scraping back, a distant conversation, someone sneezing can and do affect what words I hear. So I lipread to fill in the blanks.

With people wearing masks I'm going to be struggling to make sense of what they're saying.

@PhilCornwall1 for your wife, @EatsShootsAndRuns and others, it’s okay to ask people to speak up more loudly when they’re wearing a mask to ensure they can be heard and you can understand them. Any decent human being would be happy to oblige. You’re not really bothering others by advocating for yourself.